Charles Middleton (actor)
Charles Brown Middleton was an American stage and film actor. During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, he appeared in nearly 200 films as well as numerous plays. Sometimes credited as Charles B. Middleton, he is perhaps best remembered for his role as the villainous emperor Ming the Merciless in the three Flash Gordon serials made between 1936 and 1940.
Career
Born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Middleton worked in a traveling circus and in vaudeville, and acted on stage before he turned to motion pictures in 1920. Middleton's success as a character actor, however, did not become firmly established until the sound era in films, when he became known for his resounding, stentorian speaking voice. When Harold Lloyd decided to remake his silent film Welcome Danger in the new sound-film process, he replaced the silent-film villain with Charles Middleton, whose spoken dialogue projected a more pronounced threat to Lloyd's screen character. Middleton's ominous baritone made him an excellent foil for Lloyd, Eddie Cantor, Wheeler & Woolsey, and especially Laurel and Hardy.
At Warner Bros. he was cast in Safe in Hell starring Dorothy Mackaill, and The Strange Love of Molly Louvain starring Ann Dvorak and Richard Cromwell. In Pack Up Your Troubles, he portrays a villainous welfare association officer opposite Laurel & Hardy. He is also the district attorney in Cecil B. DeMille's 1933 film This Day and Age; and he appears opposite The Marx Brothers in Duck Soup, performing as the stern prosecutor of Freedonia. In Universal Pictures' classic 1936 screen version of the musical Show Boat, he is Sheriff Ike Vallon, the official who tries to arrest Julie La Verne and her husband for being illegally married.
Since Middleton's facial features generally resembled those of Abraham Lincoln, he was often called upon to portray the famous statesman. In 1932 he impersonated Lincoln in George M. Cohan's The Phantom President. He repeated the characterization in the 1933 public-service short The Road Is Open Again. Four years later, in an uncredited role in the comedy Stand-In, he appears as an actor dressed as Lincoln who complains of being typecast as the former president. Middleton's association with Lincoln did not end there, although in the 1940 feature film Abe Lincoln in Illinois, he performs not as Abe but as Thomas, Lincoln's father.
Middleton's brand of old-school theatrical villainy made him an ideal menace in many serials from 1935 to 1947. He is especially well known for his characterization of Ming the Merciless, the evil adversary of the heroic outer-space adventurer Flash Gordon. He appears as Ming in three related serials: Flash Gordon, Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. Some of the other serials in which Middleton can be seen include Perils of Nyoka, The Miracle Rider, Dick Tracy Returns, Daredevils of the Red Circle, Batman, and Jack Armstrong. He also portrays the ranch foreman Buck Peters in the 1935 movie Hopalong Cassidy Enters, which is the first entry in that long-running Western series.
Death
Middleton's gravesite is located in Hollywood Forever Cemetery and is situated next to the grave of his wife of many years, stage and film actress Leora Spellman.
Selected filmography
The $1,000,000 Reward as William RussellWits vs. Wits as Frank ChenyThe Evil Dead as William RussellPirates of the Pines The Farmer's Daughter as Hiram FlintThe Bellamy Trial as District AttorneyThe Far Call as Kris LarsenWelcome Danger as John ThorneBeau Bandit as Lucius J. PerkinsWay Out West as Buck RankinEast Is West as Dr. FredericksShips of Hate as Captain LashThe Miracle Woman as SimpsonAn American Tragedy as JephsonCaught Plastered as Sheriff FlintAlexander Hamilton as Rabble Rousing Townsman Palmy Days as YolandoA Dangerous Affair as TupperSob Sister as City Editor BakerThe Ruling Voice as Board Member A House Divided as MinisterSafe in Hell as Lawyer JonesX Marks the Spot as Detective KirbyManhattan Parade as Sheriff Casey Full of Notions Beau Hunks as Camp Commandant Forbidden as Pianist High Pressure as Mr. BanksThe Hatchet Man as Lip Hop FatThe Strange Love of Molly Louvain as Captain SladeMystery Ranch as Henry SteelePack Up Your Troubles as The Welfare Association OfficerThe Phantom President as Abe Lincoln Hell's Highway as Matthew the HermitBreach of Promise as Joe PugmireI Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang as Train Conductor Rockabye as District Attorney The Sign of the Cross as TyrosSilver Dollar as JenkinsToo Busy to Work as Chief of PolicePick-Up as Mr. BrewsterDestination Unknown as TurkThe Three Musketeers as El Shaitan-Speaking Sunset Pass as WilliamsThe Mystic Hour as Roger ThurstonTomorrow at Seven as Jerry SimonsDisgraced! as district attorneyThis Day and Age as district attorneyThe Road is Open Again as Abraham LincolnDoctor Bull as Mr. Upjohn, Selectman The Bowery as Detective Big Executive as SheriffWhite Woman as FentonDuck Soup as ProsecutorThe World Changes as Sheriff Wild Bill Hickok Lone Cowboy as U.S. MarshalMr. Skitch as Frank Massacre as Sheriff ScattersNana as Man Announcing Start of the War David Harum as Deacon PerkinsThe Last Round-Up as SheriffPrivate Scandal as Mr. Baker Murder at the Vanities as Homer BoothbyWhom the Gods Destroy as Constable Malcolm When Strangers Meet as John TarmanMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch as Mr. BagbyThe St. Louis Kid as Sheriff Broadway Bill as Veterinarian Behold My Wife! as Juan Storm CloudRed Morning as StanchonThe County Chairman as Riley CleaverSquare Shooter as Jed MillerIn Spite of Danger as Mr. MerrittThe Miracle Rider as ZaroffReckless as District Attorney Hop-Along Cassidy as Buck PetersSteamboat Round the Bend as Fleety Belle's Father Special Agent as State Police Commander The Virginia Judge Frisco Kid as Speaker Rose of the Rancho as Horse Doctor Sunset of Power as Neil BrannumThe Trail of the Lonesome Pine as BlacksmithRoad Gang as Mine Warden GraysonSong of the Saddle as Phineas HookFlash Gordon as Ming the MercilessShow Boat as Sheriff Ike VallonA Son Comes Home as ProsecutorJailbreak as Dan StoneThe Texas Rangers as Higgins' Lawyer Ramona as American Settler Wedding Present as Turnbull Career Woman as Matt ClayEmpty Saddles as Cimarron WhiteThe Good Earth as Banker We're on the Jury as Mr. B.J. Martin, Jury ForemanJohn Meade's Woman as Farmer Two Gun Law as Wolf LarsonHollywood Cowboy as Doc KramerYodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge as Gene Autry Sr.Slave Ship as Slave DealerThe Last Train from Madrid as Warden Souls at Sea as Jury Foreman Conquest as Sergeant at Elba Stand-In as Actor Dressed as Abraham Lincoln Jezebel as Officer Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars as Emperor MingFlaming Frontiers as Ace Daggett Dick Tracy Returns as Pa StarkStrange Faces as Abraham Lincoln look-alike The Law West of Tombstone as Newspaper Editor The Strange Case of Dr. Meade as LaceyKentucky as SouthernerJesse James as DoctorThe Oklahoma Kid as Alec MartinJuarez as Carbajal Captain Fury as MergonDaredevils of the Red Circle as 39013, Harry CrowelWyoming Outlaw as Luke ParkerWay Down South as CassBlackmail as Southern Deputy $1,000 a Touchdown as Stage Manager The Flying Deuces as CommandantAllegheny Uprising as Dr. Stoke Cowboys from Texas as Kansas JonesGone with the Wind as Man With Stove Pipe Hat in Charge of Convict Workers Thou Shalt Not Kill as Lars OlsenAbe Lincoln in Illinois as Tom LincolnThe Grapes of Wrath as Roadblock LeaderVirginia City as Jefferson DavisFlash Gordon Conquers the Universe as Emperor MingShooting High as Hod CarsonCharlie Chan's Murder Cruise as Mr. WaltersIsland of Doomed Men as Captain CortGold Rush Maisie as Camp Owner with a Pig Brigham Young as Mob Member Rangers of Fortune as Water Thug Santa Fe Trail as GentryChad Hanna as Sheriff Western Union as Stagecoach Rider Ride, Kelly, Ride as Mr. Dunn, Foreman Sergeant York as Mountaineer The Shepherd of the Hills as Blacksmith Wild Geese Calling as Doctor Jed SloanBelle Starr as CarpetbaggerStick to Your Guns as Long BenJungle Man as Rev. James 'Jim' GrahamWild Bill Hickok Rides as Claim Jumping Leader Sing Your Worries Away as Judge The Mystery of Marie Roget as CuratorMen of San Quentin as SaundersonTombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die as 1st MayorPerils of Nyoka as CassibTwo Weeks to Live as Elmer Kelton Hangmen Also Die! as Patriot at Meeting with Svoboda The Black Raven as SheriffSpook Louder as Graves' butler Batman as Ken Colton Crazy House as Sheriff The Desert Hawk as Koda BeyKismet as The Miser Black Arrow as Tom WhitneyThe Town Went Wild as Sam, Midvale District AttorneyHollywood and Vine as Wilson, Abigail's Lawyer Our Vines Have Tender Grapes as Kurt JensenNorthwest Trail as PierreWho's Guilty? as Patton CalvertHow Doooo You Do!!! as Sheriff HayworthStrangler of the Swamp as Ferryman DouglasSpook Busters as Mr. StilesThe Killers as Farmer Desert Command as El Shaitan Jack Armstrong as Jason Grood The Sea of Grass as Charley, Saloon Owner Welcome Stranger as Farmer Pinkett Gunfighters as Sheriff #1 Wyoming as Rev. Withers The Pretender as William the ButlerUnconquered as Mulligan Road to Rio as Farmer My Girl Tisa as Examiner Here Comes Trouble as Reporter Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House as Wrecker Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' as Townsman Station West as SheriffJiggs and Maggie in Court as Mr. Burton, an AttorneyThe Decision of Christopher Blake as President in Dream The Last Bandit as Blindfolded Circuit Rider